China's Cutting Back on BRI Financing, But Not For Renewable Energy

The China in Africa Podcast

China has dramatically cut back financing overseas infrastructure development initiatives, especially for carbon-intensive energy projects involving oil, gas, and coal. From 2016 to 2019, China's two major policy banks slashed lending by a stunning 85%.

However, renewables are the exception, according to a new report by the Green Belt and Road Initiative Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. For the first time ever last year, financing for renewable energy projects using solar, wind, or hydropower accounted for more than half of all of Chinese investment in energy infrastructure around the world, said the report.

And BRI countries benefitted significantly more than those not a part of Beijing's global trade agenda.

Two of the report's authors, Christoph Nedopil, founding director of the Green BRI Center, and Mengdi Yue, a researcher at the center, join Eric & Cobus from Beijing to discuss the report's findings and why financing renewable energy is now a more important policy priority for Beijing.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject

Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @greenbeltroad

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAP'S DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER:

Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following:

1. A daily email newsletter of the top China-Africa news.

2. Access to the China-Africa Experts Network

3. Unlimited access to the CAP's exclusive analysis content on chinaafricaproject.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.